Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care

Plain english summary Traditional eating disorder (ED) treatment approaches often use a “one-size-fits-all” method, despite the fact EDs are complex and can vary greatly from person to person. This review discusses how personalised treatment can transform care for people with EDs. Personalised care...

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Main Authors: Emma Bryant, Peta Marks, Kristi Griffiths, Stephanie Boulet, Melissa Pehlivan, Sarah Barakat, Stephen Touyz, Sarah Maguire
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of Eating Disorders
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01246-6
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author Emma Bryant
Peta Marks
Kristi Griffiths
Stephanie Boulet
Melissa Pehlivan
Sarah Barakat
Stephen Touyz
Sarah Maguire
author_facet Emma Bryant
Peta Marks
Kristi Griffiths
Stephanie Boulet
Melissa Pehlivan
Sarah Barakat
Stephen Touyz
Sarah Maguire
author_sort Emma Bryant
collection DOAJ
description Plain english summary Traditional eating disorder (ED) treatment approaches often use a “one-size-fits-all” method, despite the fact EDs are complex and can vary greatly from person to person. This review discusses how personalised treatment can transform care for people with EDs. Personalised care tailors treatment to each person’s unique biology, mental health, and life circumstances, with the understanding that a more flexible and individualised approach could lead to better outcomes. We explore new discoveries in genetic research, machine learning, and advanced tracking methods to predict how someone might respond to specific treatments and identify what works best for them. We also emphasise the importance of addressing changes in the illness experience over time and including patients’ perspectives in their care. While these approaches show great promise, challenges remain, such as ensuring we have evidence to guide effective personalisation, and that treatments are ethical, widely available and easy for clinicians to use. The paper highlights a future where ED treatments are more precise, effective, and adapted to the individual, offering new hope for recovery.
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publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series Journal of Eating Disorders
spelling doaj-art-565ec60c601f4ceabdfefa9b293d01a32025-08-20T03:06:56ZengBMCJournal of Eating Disorders2050-29742025-04-0113111510.1186/s40337-025-01246-6Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder careEmma Bryant0Peta Marks1Kristi Griffiths2Stephanie Boulet3Melissa Pehlivan4Sarah Barakat5Stephen Touyz6Sarah Maguire7InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictInsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health DistrictPlain english summary Traditional eating disorder (ED) treatment approaches often use a “one-size-fits-all” method, despite the fact EDs are complex and can vary greatly from person to person. This review discusses how personalised treatment can transform care for people with EDs. Personalised care tailors treatment to each person’s unique biology, mental health, and life circumstances, with the understanding that a more flexible and individualised approach could lead to better outcomes. We explore new discoveries in genetic research, machine learning, and advanced tracking methods to predict how someone might respond to specific treatments and identify what works best for them. We also emphasise the importance of addressing changes in the illness experience over time and including patients’ perspectives in their care. While these approaches show great promise, challenges remain, such as ensuring we have evidence to guide effective personalisation, and that treatments are ethical, widely available and easy for clinicians to use. The paper highlights a future where ED treatments are more precise, effective, and adapted to the individual, offering new hope for recovery.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01246-6Precision psychiatryEating disordersPersonalised medicineIndividualised medicinePrecision diagnosticsHolistic care
spellingShingle Emma Bryant
Peta Marks
Kristi Griffiths
Stephanie Boulet
Melissa Pehlivan
Sarah Barakat
Stephen Touyz
Sarah Maguire
Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care
Journal of Eating Disorders
Precision psychiatry
Eating disorders
Personalised medicine
Individualised medicine
Precision diagnostics
Holistic care
title Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care
title_full Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care
title_fullStr Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care
title_full_unstemmed Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care
title_short Treating the individual: moving towards personalised eating disorder care
title_sort treating the individual moving towards personalised eating disorder care
topic Precision psychiatry
Eating disorders
Personalised medicine
Individualised medicine
Precision diagnostics
Holistic care
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01246-6
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